Pen-cap cutlery

Din-Ink is a concept design for office cutlery by Andrea Cingoli, Paolo Emilio Bellisario, Cristian Cellini and Francesca Fontana for the DesignBoom Dining in 2015 contest. The idea is that the caps will be made from biodegradable starch and fit over your desk-pen. Link (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) (via Boing Boing)

Chair made of melted ball of rope

Tom Price's "Meltdown Chair" is made by heaping up a big cuddly pile of nylon rope, then melting an Eames-ish chair-shape into it. Don't miss the video of the hot former-on-nylon action.

This chair is created by heating and pressing a seat-shaped former into a ball of polypropylene rope. The rope begins to liquify as it comes into contact with the heated former and, as it cools, it sets in the shape of a seat creating a contrast in form and texture to the remaining rope. No additional material has been added to make the seat - it is all made from melted rope.

Link (via Geekologie) (via Boing Boing)

Tiny houses -- slideshow

Wired has a lovely slideshow of tiny, perfect houses. Since I left Toronto in 1999 (where I had an illegal, 2,000 sqft warehouse space), I've lived in progressively smaller apartments and flats, and I've come to love it. I think the key is to be absolutely ruthless about getting rid of stuff that you don't need anymore -- for example, I've started to give most of my books to thrift-stores when I'm done with them, buying them as a used book on Amazon for a few pennies if I need them again.

Alas, most of these designer shoeboxes are premium items, super-expensive. But today's expensive bespoke prototypes are tomorrow's el-cheapo homebrew projects.

When prefabricated houses become small enough, high-tech enough and weird enough to allow for mounting on a cliffside or over a lake, they may have gone a step (or a splash) too far. The Single Hauz, from Poland, offers cantilevered space for one atop a cement pole, and looks like a cross between a billboard and a scene from the Myst series.

Link (via Boing Boing)